


float

by thegoodgirl



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beach, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Surfers, Gen, M/M, Surfing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22451443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegoodgirl/pseuds/thegoodgirl
Summary: In the small beachside town of St Andrew's, Rey surfs every single day with a feel for the waves. Her best friend Finn on the lifeguard tower, and Poe running the store. Until a surf competition gives Rey a chance to change all of it.A modern surfing AU with a focus on Rey and some FinnPoe.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to @justabub on twitter for inspiring this, and @dumbpoeenergy for being my number 1 cheerleader before she even read it. This is also loosely inspired by the (rather average) 2002 movie Blue Crush. 
> 
> Hit me up on twitter @universe93 if you like this! Second chapter coming soon, bookmark for updates.

Like every day, he knocked on her door.

He always gave it ten seconds. One rounds of knocks, ten seconds, another. She never heard him. Rey never rolled out of bed until the last minute, leaving him waiting on her porch. Finn turned and walked down the steps. Rey's aunt used to chase him down the street if he yelled at the door. She was long gone now, but habits don't break.

"REY!"

Rey swung her front door open so fast it almost slammed itself shut again. "You call that a knock?"

She said that each morning. Wore that white wetsuit too. One of a million things that happened every single day. The tide would change, the waves would roll in, and Rey would still speak in that accent. It would always sound strange. She'd been in this town for five years now, but for Finn, it felt like a hundred.

"Screaming's a lot more fun."

Rey rolled her eyes as she walked down the steps, surfboard under one arm. She tossed Finn her backpack like she always did. He wouldn't hold it for long. Once they hit the beach Poe would keep it out the back at Resist. There was a time when Poe didn't live there, when he didn't have a store, when Rey still didn't know how to surf. Finn preferred not to remember it. These days were everything.

The sea appeared over the horizon when they reached the end of the street. Rey held up a hand to block the rising sun, squinting into the view. The wind was a cool breeze.

"Not a good day for it," she sighed, shifting her backpack.

"Alright," said Finn, "how can you tell from here? I can barely see anything."

Rey turned to him in surprise. He never usually asked. Finn was sweet, a bit innocent, the most brave and caring person she'd ever met. He questioned everything, but usually not out loud.

"Maybe my eyes are better," she tried, and he shook her head. "I can tell. Look, if I'm wrong I'll make Poe buy you a taco."

"No one can make Poe do anything," Finn answered as they headed down the road.

"You can."

Finn slowed down a little as Rey crossed the road to the beach. As usual, she was right. Poe did anything he asked. He'd blown into town only a few months after Rey had, and gotten on her nerves the first time they spoke. His nerves fired the second he saw him. He spent way too much time thinking about why. It was useless anyway. He wouldn't want a lifeguard who spent half his free time surfing with his best friend.

"Hey, get on with it!"

Finn snapped out of it and smiled. Only she could talk to him that way. He caught up to her just as she leaned her well-worn board against the walls of Resist. The place was a door-less shack with surfboards and a garage at the top of the beach. Still. It felt a bit like home.

"Rey Walker." Poe Dameron had great hair, spoke Spanish and only wore clothes he could wear into the water. Always barefoot, too. He'd only opened Resist a few years earlier, but thinking of St Andrew's Beach without it felt wrong.

"Poe Dameron," Rey retorted. It seemed like they were always bickering. "Mind my bag?"

"Only if you pay me."

Rey leaned on the counter and plonked down her backpack. "I never pay you."

"Exactly."

"Watch my keys?" Finn cut in.

Poe took them, and managed to touch his hand. He always found a way to do that. "Oh, for you, anything."

"You like him more than me, just admit it," Rey joked, and Finn cleared his throat. She know him too well. She knew them both too well.

"I'll like you if you do this," said Poe, changing the subject. Thank god. He took the bag from the counter and replaced it with a flier. "St Andrew's Open."

"Whatever." Rey slid the flier back towards him. "Happens every year."

"And every year you don't sign up. You're good enough. Finn, tell her."

"You're good," Finn echoed. "Best of the surfers I watch from the guard tower."

"They fly people in for this," Rey pointed out. "People with coaching teams. It's high level."

"It's high level amateur. You're an amateur!"

"What a compliment," she deadpanned.

"Just look." Poe pointed at the bottom of the page. "Guaranteed sponsorship. You win this and you could go pro. Picture it. Rey Walker, sponsored by Resist."

"Rey Skye Walker, thank you," she answered, but her eyes stayed on the flier. Finn read it over her shoulder. Not professional, but the winner would get a sponsor and a wild card to the state championship. A ticket out of St Andrew's. She'd never take it.

"She's thinking about it." Finn looked up to see Poe had been watching him. Don't get my hopes up, he thought. For her, or you.

"I am not," she told him stubbornly, straightening up. None of them believed it. "But I'll watch it. Put a copy in my bag."

Finn watched as she turned and headed out. She knew he'd be behind her. When he turned back, Poe was still looking at him. Finn tried to stop the blush creeping up his face.

"We got her," Poe grinned at him. "You think she'll do it?"

"I think she's thinking about doing it," Finn said. "If you're lucky. You coming in?"

"Uh, can't, buddy. I'm doing stuff out back." Finn couldn't stop himself from sighing. There weren't many customers that early. He used to shut up shop for an hour, lend Finn a board and surf until Finn's lifeguard shift started. The last few months, though, they couldn't tear him away from that stupid place. How do you compete with a garage?

"You know you can, uh..." He slid his hand a bit closer to Poe's on the counter. God, was he really doing this? He wanted to. He almost pulled away until Poe moved his hand as well, until their fingers were touching. The pull was as strong as the tide.

"I can what?" Poe mumbled. Finn kept watching their hands.

"You can tell me," he answered, and his voice only wavered once. "What's in there, I mean."

Poe pushed his hand against Finn's for a split second, like fire on the water, before he pulled away.

"Nope," he grinned. Jerk. "I'll see you later, alright?"

Finn straightened up with a sigh as Poe slipped out back. He started to agree with something Rey had once said. Sometimes he was wonderful and sometimes, the most annoying guy on the beach.

He borrowed Poe's spare board as he always did, and joined Rey in the waves.

* * *

Rey was right as always. The swell was dead.

Okay, maybe not dead. There were a few rideable waves, enough not to cancel Rey's lessons later. She'd been teaching out of Poe's shop since she'd graduated, getting kids up on the board in record time. FInn always felt she could do a bit more, though. Rey on the big waves was magic. She could tell a good wave from a bad one before it even touched her board. Poe once said she was at one with the current. Finn preferred to think of her at one with everything. Nature and her were family. She cut through the waves like the board was a part of her.

That day, though, they stuck to the little waves on the sandbar. Kid waves, she called them. Just enough to stand up and breeze onto the sand. The sort of easy waves Poe and Finn liked to surf. They stuck to the easy ones when they were together but he only swam out with Rey. Finn paddled out behind her until she stopped and sat up on her board.

"Anything coming?" He always asked, even if the ocean was a pancake.

He watched as Rey swept her hand through the water, squinting at the horizon. The water lapped calmly at their boards. "I don't think so. Won't be a good day for it, it's moved on."

Finn never asked what it was. He just believed her when she said it was gone. 

"You want to go in?"

Rey lay down on her board and shut her eyes.

"How about we stay here," she mumbled, her hand trailing through the water. Finn waited a moment, even though he could read it all over her face.

"Poe's right," he said in surprise. "You're thinking about it."

"No I'm not." Finn waited for what he knew was coming. "Fine, maybe I am."

"Are you admitting Poe was right about something?"

"Never," she said with a wry smile. "I just don't want him asking me about it."

"You competing." Finn tried to picture it. "You could do it, you know. You could win."

"I know I could do it," she started, then stopped as soon as she did. "Look, how about we just float until I decide." The sun twinkled over the sea and she reached up to it for a moment. Almost like a prayer.

"That'll take a while."

"You be quiet or you'll get a splash." Finn grinned at her, but she'd closed her eyes again. He heared her sigh over the waves and felt it. That warm, calm sensation like floating over a wave. Peace. There wasn't much of it left any more.

"Have you ever wanted to stay in one place forever?"

Finn let a few waves go past before he looked over for her answer. He wanted that sometimes. To be with his best friend forever on the waves. To never hear Poe tell him he wasn't what he was looking for. Rey squinted at him through the sun, hand up to shield her eyes.

"No." She looked beyond him to the horizon. "Only if I'm out here. I just..."

"You just what?"

She lifted up a hand like she didn't know.

"Come on Rey, you know me better than that."

She sighed again and sat up, hands in front of her. The silence stretched on. "I just don't want things to change." She turned to look at him like he was a puzzle. "I don't want to walk back on that sand one day and find out the three of us are different. I want to keep doing this, Finn. I don't want to lose it."

There were words he should have said to that. You won't, you can't, you'll always have me. As the seconds ticked by he hated himself for not saying them. It didn't matter. The waves seemed to say it, louder than he could.

"FINN!" They'd floated close enough to the shore to see Poe knee deep in the water. The only person louder than the waves. "Your rental period's expired!"

Finn rolled his eyes to Rey's grin. "You don't want to lose that? Really?"

"I know you don't want to lose that," she smiled, checking her watch. "And your shift starts soon anyway. Let's go in before he gets difficult."

Finn watched for a moment as she paddled in, her hair stuck to the back of her neck. She was right, as always, and as much as he hated it. He wouldn't want Poe any other way than how he was. He wanted to change how Poe saw him. How everyone saw Rey. A different outcome for the same old thing.

"You made up your mind yet?" Poe asked as soon as Rey hit the sand. Always direct.

"None of your business."

"It's all my business."

"Explain how."

"I'm your first sponsor."

"You've got to be kidding me. The first time I went in there you tried to sell me a foam board."

"I thought you were a beginner!"

"It was bright orange!"

"Okay, okay," Finn cut in, and stuck his board in the sand. "If I buy us all fish tacos from that place on Main, can we stop?"

Poe took the board from him with a smile. "Only if we get extra jalapenos."

"Oh no we are not."

They argued all the way up the beach, and Finn could only smile. That's how they'll stay the same, he thought. Keep doing what they do. Float until she decides.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the love so far! I'm @universe93 on twitter if you want to share this in any way. More to come soon!

Rey took an early mark.

It wasn't exactly warm for St Andrew's. That was how it worked. 100 degrees for days and then, a cool chill when the heat breaks. Not great weather for surfing lessons, but that was why she charged for cancellations. She shifted her board, a cold breeze through her wet hair. One day, she thought, as she swung her backpack to her front. One day she'd finally have enough for a car.

She dug in her bag for her hoodie, the wind making her shiver. As soon as she unzipped it the flier was right there. Thanks, Poe. She snatched it out and took in the details again. The state finals meant leaving St Andrews. She couldn't. That was always her first reaction to leaving. Instincts said part of her would always be right here. But another part said she could leave if one day she came back. And $5000 prize money was a reason to leave for a while. It was enough for a car. No more walking home in the cold with wet hair. Put food in her fridge for a while and pay Finn back for all the dinners he'd bought her.

Finn.

She sighed. It wasn't right to be thinking about money. She should be thinking about Finn way up in that guard tower, or Poe slaving in that mysterious garage. The three of them trying to get by. She loved it, loved them, but it was hard. And any tourist on the beach could see Finn and Poe wanted each other. Maybe when they got themselves together they wouldn't need her at all. Things were already changing, and it sent a shiver down her spine. It's like the tide. It's coming, and she can't stop it. Something so good, and then it's gone.

The wind picked up as she walked up the hill. Rey had been alone since 16, when her absent great aunt left for good. She only had vague memories of her parents, leaving her with whoever they could find. She paid the rent through teaching kids, doing odd jobs, manning the store on Poe's day off. Finn would drop over dinners and Poe promoted her lessons to anyone who came in. Still. It was always hard. There had to be a place where she could do what she loved, to be loved, and not have to worry every single day. Finn and Poe had already found it.

Finally, she made it home. She leant her surfboard against the wall in the hallway, took off her wetsuit, towelled off her hair. The stupid flier at the back of her mind. She pulled it out of her bag and sat down with it. She could change something before they did. She could do something for herself, for nobody, for once. It was a stupid thought. She'd never win. Finn and Poe didn't always know what they were talking about. She wasn't as good as they thought. She would never be as good as they thought.

Her phone buzzed in her bag, and she knew exactly what it was. Her dumb boys in the group chat, using her as an excuse not to say what they wanted. And also to get tacos. She interrupted their debate about the merits of cilantro. Poe thought it tasted like soap.

 _Let's go to the beach after dinner_ , she messaged _. Both of you. I think I have something to talk about._

* * *

Cilantro really did taste like soap.

Rey got in on the debate at dinner. Poe loved jalapenos, the more the better, but always refused the soap herb. Finn piled it on, to see Poe screw his nose up, while Rey stuck with nachos. They ate on a bench near the tired truck on Main, then she made her excuse. She didn't know what Finn and Poe talked about when they walked down to the beach, but she always gave them the time. Besides, she had to pay Finn back every once a while. Even with a $2 bag of marshmallows from Paul's at the end of the street.

She headed down towards the edge of the sand, Finn's silhouette at one of the fire pits next to the barbecues. That was how it worked after dark. She brought the marshmallows, Finn brought an attempt at fire.

"Wow." She nodded at the complete lack of fire in the last of the sunlight. The cicadas were noisy again, even in the chill. "You'd make a great caveman."

"Give me a break. Do you feel that?" The wind blew right as he said it, ruining whatever Rey had tried to do with her hair. Finn lit a match and watched as it blew straight out. "You try lighting a fire in this."

"I got sticks!"

Rey huffed out a laugh as Poe came wandering up the sand.

"Good boy," Finn joked. "You wanna see if you can light this thing?"

"Woof," he said dryly. He walked around the back and a second later a flame roared from it, almost lighting them on fire.

"Poe, for God's sake!"

"I know, I know, sorry." Poe was already heading for the marshmallows. Him and food. "Not my fault you didn't turn on the gas."

Finn turned to Rey with outstretched hands. "Did you know it had gas?"

"You didn't," Poe grinned, stabbing a marshmallow with his stick and handing it to Rey."But I forgive you." She sat on the edge of the logs around the fire, trying to get closer to it. The temperature always dropped after dark, making the chill worse. But the sunsets were worth it, and on a clear night, there were stars for miles. The best part of St Andrews, after the waves.

"So," started Poe, and she could already tell it was a loaded question. "You've been thinking. Should I put your name down?"

She glanced over at Finn, but he was too busy roasting a marshmallow. How did they always know her so well?

"For the open," he clarified, like she didn't already know. "Sign ups close in a few days."

"Since when are you taking sign ups, Dameron?"

"Since the organizers hired out the store," Poe said. "They're keeping spare competition boards and stuff in it."

"Not in the garage, I'm guessing," Finn mumbled. What was that about?

"It'd be good for you," said Poe, mid-munch.

"For Resist, you mean."

"And for you. I watch you every day, I'm not lying when I say you're good."

Rey gave him a wry smile. The fire danced in front of them, and even in that light, she could tell he meant it.

"He's right," Finn added. "You've got a sense for the waves. You can pick them."

"That's a lot different from competing. You think I can find it with seven other surfers in a heat?" She watched as a bit of marshmallow slid down her stick. She knew the answer, but they thought they knew a different one.

"I think," Poe mumbled, pulling off his burnt one, "you could find it if you were one in a million."

She shifted a little on the log. He'd never said something like that before. "Here I thought I was an amateur."

"A good amateur," Finn said, and Poe pointed at him in agreement. "You just haven't been able to prove yourself."

"I wouldn't do it for that." She didn't need proof of anything. When she looked over, the boys were sitting there sword-fighting with their sticks. How could she leave that?

"Look," she said, to lighten it up. "I've never competed before. I have no sponsors and no team-"

"Uh, what are we?" Finn asked in faux offense. Poe took the opportunity to pretend stab him.

"Ridiculous?" They quietened down and she looked up at the stars for a moment. When her uncle was alive, he'd taught her the constellations. Garing was up there somewhere, four stars with two more close to the centre. Bleston, three stars in a wonky line. Kind of like them.

"What if I hate it?" she mumbled, partly to herself. "It could make me hate it. If I don't do it for a good reason I'll never want to do it again."

"A better reason than the money, you mean." Finn knew her like the front of his board. "Maybe you should do it to see if you can do it, how about that?"

"And if you hate it," Poe finished, "don't do it again."

"That simple, huh." The wind blew so hard it almost took out the fire, and she couldn't help but shiver. Good days shouldn't end with winds this cold. "Poe, did you bring the blankets?"

Poe reached back behind the bench he was on and tossed her one. "That's the only one. The rest are back at the store. " Rey sighed. They were at the other end of the beach, but when she looked up Finn had his hand out.

“I’ll get it, don’t worry,” he said, and waited for Poe to give him the keys. He put a hand on Poe’s shoulder as he walked off, lighting the way with his phone, and Rey smirked. God, the two of them. Always over before they even start. She studied Poe, staring after him.

“He’ll do whatever you want, you know.” The sound of her voice made Poe jump. “I think he’d swim out to a shark if you wanted him to.”

“And why would I want that?”

“Who knows how you works.” She bit off some marshmallow, sticky and sweet. She always liked them a bit undone. Poe liked his burned to a crisp. “Maybe if it was good for business.”

“If a shark takes a bite out of one of my boards, I’m going Jaws on him.” Rey laughed into the cool air. “I’m serious. I’ll get the rescue chopper and chase him off.”

“Finn or the shark?” She let the fire crackle in front of them until the moment passed, eating her marshmallow. Poe set his on fire and she waited to speak until he’d blown it out.

“You know what he’s like,” she started, and finished, all at once. What was there to say that he didn’t know? The two of them wanted something they didn’t see as real. It wasted time, but it wasn’t right to say so. She let the waves crash instead.

“Of course I know what he’s like,” Poe mumbled after a moment.

“I’m just saying.”

“What are you saying?”

“I-“ she cut herself off with an eye roll and a smile. He always had her fighting. “Look, don’t play around with him. He likes you. I don't want him to get hurt in all this.”

He stayed quiet for a moment, the fire reflected in his eyes. “You know I wouldn’t do that. I never want him to feel bad about anything.”

She watched him as she said it, the way he looked down, curls falling in his face. The deep breath, the firm grip on the stick. Oh god. He had it terribly. Something more serious than she thought.

“Wow,” she mumbled. He looked at her with a furrowed brow. “I wouldn’t have thought I’d hear that from you first.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, The fire snapped and popped, but Rey still shivered. “It’s something, I just don’t know what.”

"Oh come on," she huffed. He looked up like he didn't know. “You know what it is. You’re not an idiot. Not all the time anyway.” The wind lapped at the fire, but it didn’t go out. “Promise me you’ll be careful with that.”

“What, with him?”

She paused for a moment, took a breath. “With you.”

The wind breezed harder, and she saw him shiver. She got up and placed his blanket around both their shoulders, sitting down beside him. He gave her a nudge, not meeting her eye.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, offering her a blackened marshmallow. Disgusting. “But I don’t need to promise. We’re all friends here, right?”

It was sad, the way he deadpanned it. Like it was actually the truth. She took the poor marshmallow to make it feel better. One mouthful though, and he laughed as she threw it back in the fire.

“It depends,“ she answered, pulling the blanket around her. “Are we still friends if I don’t compete?”

“If you do or if you don’t,” he answered, flopping down on the dirt. “We’re still friends. And I know, I know you’ll still win.”

The rush came over her again. Peace. Even in the cold next to the crackling fire. She thought Finn was the only one who could give her that. That belief in hope, in herself. Then out of the fire comes Poe Dameron, someone she knew all along.

“I know you can’t see it,” he told after a moment, singe another marshmallow. “But I can.”

He turned to look at her, those eyes more serious than she’d ever seen. She didn’t need to say thank you. He could hear it in the waves.

“Would you stop smiling at me?” he grinned after a moment. “He’ll get wrong ideas.” She laughed as Finn came up behind them, blankets in hand. No one would ever get that idea.

“Finally,” Poe started, “we were freezing, buddy.” Rey shook her head as she moved to let Finn take her spot next to Poe, far too close as always. In the darkness she could see their hands touching.

“Sorry,” Finn answered, reaching for the marshmallow bag. “One more, then we’ll go in.” He tossed Rey another blanket and she nestled into it. This was the peace she wanted, what she thought she couldn’t have. She could have competing, too, if the peace went on forever.

"You know what?" Poe and Finn looked over from the seven marshmallows they'd squeezed onto one stick. "I'm done thinking. Sign me up."

Finn tackled her in a hug before she even took a breath. She'd try it for them, she thought. Even if it lead to nothing, which of course, it always did.

"Rey Walker," Poe smiled. "Always a surprise."

You too, she thought. At least she could do something about what she wanted.

At least she could try.


End file.
